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Hope springs eternal in the human breast;
Man never is, but always to be blessed:
The soul, uneasy and confined from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come. - Pope
Ah….training camp is set to open in the NFL in just a couple of short weeks. I don't want to get caught up in who makes or doesn't make the team here (BB does a great job of that elsewhere). In the past week I’ve had fans from the Cowboys, Giants, Raiders, Panthers and Saints (?!?!?) drop by my desk to talk football and the prospects for the new season. All seem to be hopeful, just like we do, but all seem to qualify their season predictions with a disclaimer of one sort or another. Except the Saints fan.
“If Romo stays healthy we’ll win 12 games and walk away with the division.” – Boys fan
“With our offense as good as it is, if our defense is just middle of the pack we’ll win 12 games and walk away with the division.” – Giants fan
“The Broncos are vulnerable now and we’re in the perfect position to take advantage.” - Raider fan
“You guys all count the Saints out. Brees is still a top 3 QB.” - Glue sniffing Saints fan
My response to all of these fine gentlemen was the same: “If grandma had a package we’d call her grandpa”. EVERYONE is a contender this time of the year. It’s both fantastic and terrible at the same time.
We’ve all been there though. How many times over the last 25 years have we bargained with the fates just like these fans are doing? “In Norv’s offense I’m sure Gus can throw for 4000 yards”, “Now that the Ol’ Ball Coach has had a chance to get an NFL season under his belt next season will definitely be better”, “With Bruce Smith AND Deion Sanders on the team our defense will be unstoppable.”
Well, I didn’t start this thread to re-open old wounds. I actually had a point. This is the official thread of your predictions for the NFL season, before anyone even gets to camp. If you want to explain yourself, fine. If not, fine. Just remember that I reserve the right to bring up whatever prediction you made here at a later date to either praise of ridicule you. You have been warned.
I’ll start:
Skins
- After an uneven start the Skins win the division by a whisker over the Boys.
- Kirk finishes the season as a top 10 QB in QBR
- Junior and Preston each get double digit sacks for the season
- Kerrigan will get another int
- Vernon Davis will be a major contributor to the Skins' offense by years end.
- Cravens will be an impact player by years end.
The Rest
- Giants and Eagles both finish the season under .500
- The Steelers (puke) overtake the Bengals this season in the AFC North. Marvin Lewis is shown the door.
- The Cards beat the Seahawks for the NFC West division, but both make the playoffs.
- The Jags will finish over .500 for the first time in many moons and give the Colts a run for the division. They fall just short.
- Jeff Fisher will get the ax at the end of the season for the Rams as they win 5 games out west.
- My friend is NOT correct about the Raiders. The Chiefs will win the division. Raiders in the mix for a wildcard spot.
- My Saints fan friend is definitely not correct as the Saints finish last in the NFC South.
- Pats win the AFC east. In other news water is wet and the sky is blue
Nothing too ground breaking there, but it's a start. What else are you gonna do before camp starts anyway?
